Austin Farmer accepted a brief hug from coach John Hollman and burst through a line of his Bluffton High wrestling teammates toward the scorer’s table.

Farmer was anxious to hit the mat Thursday night for his first match of the season.

The senior, who has placed in the last three state tournaments, made quick work of his opponent from rival Hilton Head Island. Wrestling at 145 pounds, one class above his announced position, Farmer secured a pin with 35 seconds left in the first period.

“I feel pretty sluggish compared to last year and every other year before that,” he said. “I’ve just got to start running more and get in better shape.”

Farmer had to sit out the fall semester for academic reasons, he said, causing him to miss most of the team dual portion of the wrestling season.

“My grades, they weren’t so good last year coming into this year,” he said. “I had to have a 2.0 (grade point average) and I got it to a 2.9 now, so I’m good to wrestle.”

By the time Farmer returned Thursday, the Bobcats already were out of contention for the state team tournament. Bluffton, which lost to Hilton Head 42-32, closes the region schedule at home Wednesday against Colleton County.

Still, Farmer came back in time to make one final push for a state championship in his senior season. He finished fourth last year at 132 pounds, second as a sophomore at 125 pounds and fourth as a freshman at 112 pounds.

Farmer said he isn’t sure what class he will wrestle in the postseason. He was slotted at 138 on Thursday before lineup changes bumped him up to 145. He said he sees the path to a state title looks a little clearer at 132, but he may want to challenge himself in a higher class.

“Where he wrestles in the postseason is entirely up to him,” Hollman said. “At this point, we have no idea where he’s going to be. He’s just going to test the waters and feel his way around between now and the end of the month.”

For right now, Farmer is focused on making up for lost time. Though he was able to practice with the team last semester, he said tutoring sessions after school kept him from participating in daily conditioning drills.

After Thursday’s “sluggish” victory, Farmer will have to do more individual work to get his stamina up to a midseason level.

“It’ll take me about a week and a half, two weeks to get there — running in the morning and the evenings,” he said.

As Hollman has worked with an unusually small roster this season, he has said time and again the individual tournament could add a “silver lining” to a difficult year for the Bobcats. Farmer’s return certainly won’t hurt.

“I think his chances are great. With the kid’s ability, his toughness, his chances have been great his whole career,” Hollman said. “He just needs more live action like this. He needs to be pushed, he needs to be tested. He needs to have some battles in front of him.”